Foreign Healthcare Workers and Nurses- Goff & Wilson - Professional Association

Foreign Healthcare Workers

Registered Nurses

Preciosa

A U.S. nursing student from the Philippines who had a lucrative job offer, provided she took it immediately on graduation. We speeded up work authorization papers leading to a Green Card.

The most successful method to employ a foreign-born RN in the United States is to pursue lawful permanent residence (LPR) on behalf of the RN. The process has several steps, and normally takes about a year – although the actual time may be more or less - before the RN will be employed in your facility. There is legislation pending to speed the process for the foreign-born RN, but it is difficult to determine whether the legislation will make it through Committee. Although the process can take a fair amount of time to complete, it is by far the most effective and successful method to employ foreign-born RNs, and is highly recommended.

The process starts with a U.S. employer filing an Immigrant Visa Petition with the Immigration Service. In order to qualify, the RN must be fully licensed in the country of education, must have a diploma from a nursing school in his or her own country, and must either have a full and unrestricted license to practice professional nursing in the state of intended employment or have a certification that the examination given by the Commission on Graduates of Foreign Nursing School (CGFNS) has been passed. Currently, this petition is taking 6-8 months for approval, but there is hope that this time period will lessen. Once the Immigration Service approves the petition, the RN must complete a packet of information, which ultimately will be presented to the U.S. Consulate abroad where the RN resides. Various other documents must be presented at this time, including birth and marriage certificates, passport, medical exam, photographs, and most importantly, a VisaScreen Certificate. VisaScreen Certificates are issued by the International Commission for Healthcare Professionals (ICHP), which is part of CGFNS. Unless the nurse was educated in an English speaking country, the nurse must achieve passing scores on English language examinations (TOEFL, TWE and TSE) or (TOEIC, TWE and TSE) or (IELTS).

If the foreign-born RN is already in the U.S. in a different status, and if all of the appropriate examinations have been passed and the VisaScreen Certificate has been issued, the RN may apply for adjustment of status (to change to green card holder) while in the U.S., and receive employment authorization that will allow the RN to be employed while awaiting the Immigration Service approval of the green card application.

Currently, there are no backlogs for immigrant visas for any country. Facilities wanting to employ RNs from India, Mainland China, or the Philippines should be aware that there might be a backlog created in the future.

For more information and questions about filing an immigrant petition, please call our US office at 603-228-1277.

For more information you may visit www.ncsbn.org

Important information for Registered Nurses:

NCSBN Selects First Three Countries To Offer NCLEX-RN Examination Abroad

June 1, 2004 - The National Council of State Boards of Nursing (NCSBN) has selected the first three (3) countries for purposes of offering the NCLEX examinations abroad for domestic nurse licensure purposes. NCSBN’s Board of Directors affirmed the decision at its May meeting upon recommendation from the NCSBN Examination Committee.

NCLEX testing is expected to begin January 2005 in Seoul, South Korea; London, England; and Hong Kong.

“These are the initial countries where testing will begin,” stressed NCSBN Director of Testing Services, Dr. Casey Marks. He added that, “The Examination Committee was faced with difficult choices in order to choose the first locations. If the initiative proceeds as well as expected, additional countries will be added when warranted.”

Please contact us for more information!

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